242 Er^iinent Living Geologists — 



knowledge, not only of peat, but of ' superficial formations ' generally. 

 Eventually I reached the conclusion tliat the phenomena of the peat 

 bore witness to a succession of climatic changes, and my views were 

 communicated to the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh in a paper ' On the 

 Buried Forests and. Peat-mosses of Scotland, and the changes of climate 

 which they indicate' ^ (1866). 



"I have, since then, considerably extended my acquaintance with 

 the peat-bogs of Scotland and other lands, but have found no reason 

 to change or modify the general conclusions I arrived at so long ago 

 — conclusions which have been of late 3'ears strongly supported by 

 Dr. Lewis, whose researches into the botanical history of the peat- 

 mosses seem to me to mark a distinct advance in our knowledge of 

 Pleistocene geologj'." 



Dr. James Geikie's survey work in succeeding years lay chiefly 

 in the Lowlands, and the bordering tracts of the Southern Uplands 

 and. Highlands. He had thus to map considerable areas of 

 Silurian, Old Red Sandstone, and Carboniferous, together with large 

 tracts of the associated igneous rocks. This ' solid geology ' was 

 sufficiently engrossing, but the glacial phenomena had certainly the 

 greater fascination for him, and most of his holidays were devoted 

 to the study of these phenomena either in this country or on the 

 Continent. Having arrived at certain conclusions as to the climatic 

 changes of Pleistocene times, he broached these views in the 

 Geologicai, Magazine (1871-2) in a series of papers "On Changes 

 of Climate during the Glacial Epoch ". These papers formed the 

 germ of James Geikie's Great Ice A(je, issued in 1874, a second 

 edition of which appeared three j-ears later. His Prehistoric Europe, 

 ])ublished in 1882, was really a supplement to that edition, while 

 the third edition of the Great Ice Age (1894) embodied the further 

 results obtained by assiduous study of the work done by others, and 

 by the devotion of his holidays to research in this country and abroad. 



Having been appointed (1882) to the Ciiair of Geology at Edinburgh, 

 many new interests claimed his attention. His pupils having com- 

 plained that the textbooks of geologj^ then available were either 

 too meagre or too elaborate for their purpose, Professor Geikie was 

 induced to prepare an ' intermediate ' textbook [Outlines of Geology) 

 which was issued in 1884, a fourth edition being called for in 1903. 

 He also set himself the task of improving the teaching of geography 

 in schools. The kind of geography taught at that time and the 

 textbooks in common use were dry and forbidding, and one had no 

 difficulty in proving that such was the case. Put James Geikie was 

 only one of a number of ardent reformers, who in 1884 united to 

 form a Scottish Geographical Society, which has succeeded beyond, 

 their utmost expectations, and has played no small part in effecting 

 a complete revision of the mediaeval system of teaching geography 

 in the Scottish schools, and in getting lectureships on the subject 

 established in the universities. Dr. James Geikie was elected president 

 in 1904, but after holding office for six years his constantly increasing 

 work at the University compelled liim to resign. On liis retirement 



^ See Geol. Mag., 1867, pp. 20-3, and Eoy. Soc. Eclinb., vol. xxiv, pt. ii, 

 pp. 363-84. 



